Even though I have lived in Sydney, I’ve never been to Mardi Gras before. Attending the last few days of one of the world’s biggest queer festivals was a whirlwind trip.
On our first day, when our phones recharged, we discovered we’d missed out on Kylie’s surprise performance at the Berresford Hotel the previous night. Would we have beaten 298 other queers to the Beresford? Probably not. We headed down to Channel Ten and got an inside look at the filming of ‘Studio 10’ where Ita Butrose delivered her pearls of wisdom and Jessica Rowe showed off a dress that looked like a wetsuit.
After some shopping and visiting our favourite restaurant, we bumped into Sydney Drag Queen Miss Prada Clutch who was giving a live performance for queer radio station OX Live. Walking down Pitt Street we discovered the ANZ’s new GAYTM’s which were proving to be popular with tourists. Later we headed down to the Mardi Gras VIP Party. Would Kylie appear here? We wondered.
As various Sydneysiders zoomed down the red carpet we waited patiently for someone we’d recognise.Our first celebrity sighting was the Prime Minister’s sister Christine Forster and her partner Virginia Edwards. Drag star Sexy Galexy was a great poser for the camera, and then everything went crazy when Tina Arena arrived. The very handsome Chaz Bono walked in with Shane Jelek (Courtney Act) adding to the flurry of flashing cameras. Once it settled down again everyone decided that Kylie wasn’t coming.
The moment the red carpet cleared we dashed around the corner to the State Theatre to catch Pam Ann’s outregeous new show ‘Plane Filthy’ which was fantastic. Pam Ann joked that all Sydney queers do for the months leading up to Mardi Gras is go to the gym.
On Friday we went to the press conference to get the low down on the parade and it’s massive 140+ floats. Later in the evening we dropped in on the TOP party which is held in the Sydney Tower. With mind blowing views of the city the party featured some of Sydney’s best DJs and stars from Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Later we walked along Oxford Street bumping into many people from Perth and friends from around Australia.
The big question on Saturday was would it rain on the parade? Luckily the rain held off as the massive number of floats sped by. Courtney Act was dazzling with a massive train, Delta Goodrem came dressed as a flower, Penny Wong waved at us, we totally missed Magda Szubanski but apparently she was there too, Tom Ballard stood nearby presenting for SBS with a sexy new short haircut, Tina Arena stopped by, and although we were in Taylor Square, we couldn’t see much of Baz Luhrmann’s mega finale.
The moment the parade finished the rain came, the communal walk to the party was 20 minutes in the pouring rain. As we had umbrellas we were visted by various Twinks seeking shelter during the walk, like tiny frogs hopping from one umbrella to the next, all worried that their make up might have run.
At the party there was the biggest dance floor I have ever seen, filled with men shedding their shirts, Pam Ann was right about the gym commitments. Pumping dance music was interrupted by short performances, Courtney Act with a cast of hundreds, Tina Arena with an army of leather clad muscle men. In the middle of the dance floor we bumped into comedian Josh Thomas. Apparently Marcia Hines appeared at the very end of the party at 8am, but I’ll admit by that time I was soundly asleep.
Never been to Mardi Gras, book a ticket for 2015!
Graeme Watson
editor@outinperth.com
